Multi-Tasking (a McRoll in the REAL World story)
by sammy1026
Summary: Catherine and Angie have a rough night.


_Mari & Ilna-you guys are the absolute best! Thank you for everything!_

_REAL Worlders-you guys are awesome. Thanks for all the support and encouragement._

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**Multi-Tasking (1/1)**

"I got this. You go back to sleep," Catherine whispered as she slipped out of bed at 2:00 AM in response to Angie's plaintive cries coming through the baby monitor.

"I can help," Steve offered. "You were up with her," he glanced at his phone, "an hour ago."

"And the way you know that is because you were just getting to bed as I got up." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "You need sleep."

The eruption of Angie's second set of molars had unfortunately coincided with a major drug bust that had Steve and the team on duty for pretty much 24 hours straight.

He sat up. "You know I can get by on very little sleep."

"I know you can." Catherine placed her hand on his chest. "But I also know you're going to be headed back to work in a few hours and I feel better if I know you're well rested when you're out catching all the bad guys."

Steve smiled at Catherine's use of Joanie's oft repeated description of his job duties. "Ok but call me if you need me."

"Will do."

* * *

Just after sunrise Steve made his way out to the deck to find Catherine walking slow circles while she rubbed Angie's back comfortingly and whispered soothing words in her ear. From the look of Angie's tear stained face the teething giraffe was helping but had been unable to take away the pain completely. Steve's heart clenched. "Long night?"

Catherine yawned. "Definitely. I just feel bad she's in so much pain. I gave her some Tylenol about half an hour ago and I think between that and being up most of the night she might actually be ready to sleep."

"I'll take her." Steve held out his arms and a clearly exhausted Angie murmured "Daddy" as she went to him and wrapped her little arms around his neck. "Why don't you head back to bed yourself and try to get a few more hours?"

Catherine shook her head. "I have a breakfast meeting with the governor. I have a pretty light afternoon though so I might be able to slip out early."

"Is Angie supposed to go in with you today?"

"She was but I texted Mom a few minutes ago and she and Grandma Ang are gonna come over here and spend the day instead. I think Angie will be more comfortable at home when she's in so much pain."

"That's a good idea." Steve kissed Angie's cheek. "Plus, I don't know for sure, but I'd bet your mommy that Grandma shows up with a surprise or two to help distract you from that nasty tooth pain."

Catherine chuckled. "That's a sucker's bet. Oh, and before I forget, I sent out the email invitations for Jenna's congratulations party on Saturday. Can you talk to Chin, Kono and Danny today and make sure they got theirs and confirm they're all coming?

Steve looked at his wife with an expression that was a mixture of love, pride, and wonder. "How did you manage to take care of the invitations while you were dealing with a fussy baby?"

"Voice commands," she smiled. "I figured Angie and I might as well knock a few things off the to do list since we were up anyway."

"Your mommy is one of a kind," Steve told Angie. "And we are the luckiest people in the world to get to love her and have her love us back."

Catherine smiled through watery eyes. "I'm the lucky one. Night night, baby girl. I hope you get some sleep."

* * *

After putting Angie down and waiting to make sure she was actually asleep Steve returned to the deck to find Catherine studying the blueprints of the new addition the architect, Miko Iokua, had sent over for their approval. He could tell by the look on her face there was something she was having second thoughts about. "What's wrong with the plans?"

"Nothing's exactly _wrong_," she said, not taking her off the papers spread out in front of her.

Steve moved to stand beside her and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Then what's not exactly right?" He rephrased his question.

Catherine tilted her head, pursed her lips, then pointed to the new master suite which was situated in the far corner of what would be the new upstairs configuration. "I know we decided to use this as our new bedroom because it would be easy to just close off the entrance into the current bedroom, build a new door and keep this as our master bathroom."

"Right." Steve stared at the drawings trying to see what Catherine saw. "That way we could keep the shower and soaking tub."

Catherine sighed. "I really love the shower and soaking tub."

"But …?"

She laid her head on his shoulder. "The more I look at it … if we plan on putting Angie here." She pointed to their current room. "And using this room for any child we might adopt." She pointed to the next room down the newly expanded and reoriented hallway. "Don't you think that puts us kind of far away if one of the kids needs something during the night. I mean I know it's just a matter of a few steps down the hallway but …"

"A few steps can be a big deal to a child in pain or waking up from a bad dream," he said.

"Exactly." Catherine smiled. She should have known Steve would understand. "I was thinking if we move the master bedroom here." She pointed to the room currently labeled as a guest room. "We'd be more centrally located. Then if we move the guest room to the back corner that would give anyone staying there a little more privacy. I know it means giving up the bathroom we love but I think it's more important we're easily accessible when needed."

"You're absolutely right." Steve turned her so she was facing him and kissed her gently on the lips. After a few seconds he rested his forehead against hers. "My brilliant wife has anticipated an issue once again and, as usual, come up with a solution. You are amazing."

Catherine smiled wistfully. "It means goodbye soaking tub and color changing tiles though."

Steve shook his head vigorously. "Nope. I'll call Miko later and find out how much it would cost to disassemble the bathroom and move it."

Catherine grimaced. "That sounds expensive."

Steve wrapped her in a tight hug. As much as he loved that bathroom, he knew Catherine loved it even more. Even two plus years after installation her eyes still lit up every time she talked about it. Kind of like the backsplash. And Steve would do whatever he had to do to make sure he kept that light in her eyes. "Some things are more than worth it."

**THE END**

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